Conventional carbonated beverage dispensers usually have a base or driptray, a back support or tower containing the ingredient supply lines from remote pressurized tanks, a dispenser head spaced above the driptray containing two solenoid actuated valves, one for carbonated water, and the other for syrup. These valves are controlled by a normally open switch actuated by a pivotally mounted lever depending from the dispenser head. The lever is moved by the lateral pressure of a cup when it is held manually under the spigot. The ingredients dispense as long as the solenoid valves remain energized through the closing of the momentary switch with pressure from the side of the cup. Removal of the cup allows the switch to re-open de-energizing the dispenser solenoid valves. Automatic dispensers have been developed which employ a timer to turn off the flow and allow the operator to attend to other matters while the cup is filling. These save time, but in many cases they cause the waste of ingredients. If too little ice is put in the cup, the timer underfills the cup and the operator has to top it off manually and this takes extra time. To make sure the cup is not underfilled, the operator soon learns that if he puts a little extra ice in the cup, he will not have to top it off; the cup runs over wasting the ingredients, but is saves him time. The present invention employs an electronic lever detector developed for my previous U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,947, to stop the flow of ingredients when the level in the cup reaches and wets the electronic probe which depends into any cup, regardless of size.
Electronic liquid level detectors have been used previously to control the quantity of liquid dispensed into cups or other containers as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,898,954; 3,357,461 and 3,916,963. In each case, the flow is initiated when the cup or receptacle is placed in the receiving position, and is halted when the liquid dispensed reaches the predetermined level where the electronic probes are wetted. The opening of the dispensing solenoid valves is accomplished automatically by a coin or by a lever operated switch. U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,963 employs an extension to the normal switch actuating lever so the lateral movement of the cup actuates the switch in the same manner as most manually actuated present-day dispensers.
The mechanical lever extensions are formed in an S configuration so that part of them extends into the cup to serve as electronic probes. This lever extension must be adjusted to accommodate one particular size cup by set screws and, if any other size cup was used, the lower ends would have to be cut off to a precise length. If the lower portion of the lever extensions are to be used as electronic probes for a smaller cup, the dispensing solenoid valve would first have to be actuated by the lateral movement of the cup, and the cup would then have to be tilted and placed under the probes, all while the beverage is being dispensed.